PHOTO PROVIDED Some of the work done by Interior Construction Specialists Inc., as seen on the company’s website.

When shopping for construction needs, staying within a fixed budget can be difficult with the multitude of services needed to complete the job.

Interior Construction Specialists, Inc., offers a host of options to keep these services centered under one roof, according to company President Eric Hine.

Currently located at 339 E. Southern Ave., South Williamsport, the business was started by Hine’s father, Ron in 1983, as a way of being closer to home.

“He was a union carpenter at the time, and a lot of his work was in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, New York, New Jersey, out that way,” Hine explained.

“He had two young kids at home, myself and my sister, and he was always on the road out of town working, and he just got sick of it and the unsteady work with the union at the time,” he said.

“He needed more steady income, so he found a he found a partner, they got some some financing, and established their business,” Hine said.

Ron’s partner would retire in 2013, with Ron following suit five years later when he sold the company to his son, who has been the sole owner ever since.

Hine holds a degree in health and physical education and had relocated to the Lansdale area after graduation, but returned to the Williamsport area in 2006 and began working with his father.

“Unlike a lot of general contractors, we self perform a lot of things. There’s a lot of general contractors out there that subcontract their painting or their flooring or their drywall hanging or finishing. We self perform all that,” he explained.

“We don’t build buildings, but we’ll go in and do the interior fit out or renovation work, either new construction or renovation,” Hine said.

Services provided by Interior Construction Specialists, Inc. include restroom remodels, framing of new walls, hanging and finishing drywall, painting ceiling work and flooring, as well as procurement of permits, all within a one hour radius of Williamsport.

Hine stresses that keeping all of these options under one umbrella amounts to a major cost savings for their customers.

“You’re able to control the cost a little bit better and it controls the schedule a little bit better,” he said.

“There’s been times where I’ve heard of the contractor waiting on a painting contractor, who said they can’t get there for a week or two,” Hine said.

“When you’re able to do all that in-house, there is no downtime. You can go from one thing to the next to the next. It’s a much smoother process,” he said.

Interior Construction Specialists, Inc. boasts an impressive list of clientele including Evangelical Hospital, Geisinger, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Lycoming College and Bucknell University.

“We’ve done probably hundreds of projects with UPMC over the years,” Hine said.

Those projects include flooring work at the cancer treatment center, the pain management and rehab center and the birthplace, labor and delivery area at UPMC Williamsport.

They have also completed work at campuses at Divine, Muncy, Wellsboro and Lock Haven.

“When the business first started, they used to do a lot of retail and restaurant work, and in the early 90s, they found their niche with with healthcare, doctors offices, medical office buildings and such,” Hine said.

“We’re really fortunate to have our relationship with UPMC,” he said.

Working in a healthcare setting presents its own unique challenges, Hine said.

“When you do construction and healthcare work, you’re expected to perform infection control measures, whether it be temporary walls or barriers of some sort,” he explained.

“We have all kinds of infection control measures and equipment, whether it be air filtration devices and air scrubbers and temporary wall systems, Tyvek suits that we have to wear, or the blue booties you have to slip on your shoes to keep things every clean and sanitary,” Hine said.

“We tell all of our guys, if you’re waiting to get on an elevator, and the doors open and there’s people on it say, ‘thanks, I’ll get the next one.’ Just let them go. Don’t interfere with the hospital’s daily operations,” he said.

“If you’re pushing a cart down the hallway and or tools or equipment or anything, and there’s a patient bed coming the other direction, stop what you’re doing, move to the side, let them pass by, whatever you can do to stay out of their way and make the disruption as little as possible,” Hine said.

“Our guys are really good at that. They’re very courteous, respectful, they’re clean, they’re well maintained, they present themselves as well,” he stressed.

Those traits are part of what puts Interior Construction Specialists, Inc. a notch above its competitors, Hine said.

“If you go in there and you’re quiet, respectful, present yourself well and you’re courteous, that’s going to help our relationship,” Hine said.

“A lot of the time, we might be renovating an office and there might be staff in there working, and whether we’re behind a temporary wall or not, they’ll see you coming and going, they’ll hear you, they might overhear conversations,” he said.

“There’s no music allowed on our job sites, obviously, language is a really big one. Demeanor goes a long way. It really does,” Hine stressed.

Hine said what has kept Interior Construction Specialists, Inc. thriving all these years is the combination of quality and consciousness.

“We have some of the best guys in the industry, especially in this area. I’d put some of our flooring and painting guys up against anybody else in the county,” he said.

“Their quality of work is a standard that we have, and we don’t accept anything less,” Hine said.

“You get a whole package of satisfaction,” he said.

“With other companies, people will say, ‘well, they did a really nice job, but man, the guys were slobs, they were smoking cigarettes, or they were cursing, or they had loud music,” Hine said.

“It’s just my opinion, but if I had to put up with that to get a quality job, there’s other contractors out there that do quality work,” he said.

“But with us, you’ll get one with the other, you won’t get one or the other,” Hine stressed.

Those interested in the services offered by Interior Construction Specialists, Inc. are encourged to check out their website at www.interiorconstructionspecialists.com or contact them at 570-300-4861.